The present invention relates generally to portable extension poles. In more specific aspects, the present invention relates to portable poles used in the electrical distribution system field and methods associated therewith.
The accessibility of electrical power distribution lines varies substantially because the lines are installed both above ground at various elevations and below ground in underground electric power distribution systems. As a result of such a highly diverse and non-uniform manner in which the electrical power distribution lines are positioned and mounted, the access distances between the electrical power distribution lines and the maintenance personnel vary substantially. For example, an above ground electrical power distribution line may be 10 feet or more from the maintenance person thus requiring a pole of at least 10 feet in length in order to reach the line. On the other hand, a below ground electrical power distribution line may be only 5 feet or less from the maintenance person, thus requiring a much shorter pole than would be required for the above ground scenario. In order to be properly prepared under such highly diverse and non-uniform conditions, maintenance personnel have been typically provided telescoping poles (sticks) or a selection of poles of varying lengths in order to properly accomplish various tasks without being required to go back to home-base to obtain a properly sized portable electrical power distribution line pole.
Telescoping poles are well known in the art and have been used for a great number of fields including the electrical power distribution field as one methodology in meeting the needs of the maintenance personnel faced with the possibility of such highly diverse and non-uniform reach distances. The use of telescoping poles is often preferred over the use of various non-telescoping or fixedly sized poles, except in certain exceptions some of which are described below, as they tend to conserve space. The telescoping poles are generally constructed from a plurality of individual telescoping sections that are generally relatively short in length and circular in cross section. By their nature, the individual telescoping sections fit one inside the other when not in use, i.e., an inner pole is disposed within an outer pole having a larger diameter than that of the inner pole. Such telescoping-type poles generally permit a selected number of sections to be extended to provide the maintenance personnel a pole of the required length.
An important feature of telescoping poles is the ability to lock individual sections of the pole at a desired telescoped extension length by means of a locking pin, button, screw, or other such fastener. Thus, the individual sections of the telescoping poles typically include a connector to lock an internal pole within the outer pole, locking select individual sections together to permit the extension of the individual sections and selective adjustment of the overall length of the telescoping pole. For example, each of the individual sections can have a spring-biased button which passes through a hole formed in an adjacent outer cylindrical section. When the hole and the button engage, the pole is mechanically locked into position and can be released by manual pressure on the button.
The means for locking the individual sections of the telescoping pole can, however, be problematic. For example, when a user tries to extend or retract individual sections of the telescoping pole, the inner pole sections often tend to rotate with respect to an adjacent outer pole segment. This rotation typically results in a misalignment of the button of the inner pole section with the corresponding hole in the adjacent outer pole section which prevents engagement of the hole with the button. The user typically cannot see the button of the inner pole section and must radially twist the two pole sections relative to each other to “feel” for the button in order to align the button with the hole of the adjacent outer pole section until engagement occurs. This problem is exacerbated when trying to retract all of the pole sections such that a single button engages each of the holes of corresponding adjacent outer pole sections. The user must successively align the button on the innermost pole section with holes in each of the outermost pole sections which then also must align with each other.
In addition to misalignment, often times while trying to “feel” for the button, the inner pole section is inadvertently disengaged from the outer pole section, resulting in the individual having to reconnect the two pole sections. This reconnection can be very difficult or even impossible when the inner pole section is hanging from a power transmission line.
Applicant has, therefore, recognized a need for a telescoping pole for use with electrical power distribution lines that provides alignment indicators on each pole section that align with each other to further enhance the ease of alignment of the respective telescoping pole sections during both extension and retraction. Applicant has also recognized a need for a telescoping pole for use with electrical power distribution lines that prevents an inner pole section from disengaging an outer pole section when the button disengages the hole in the outer pole section.